3. A multihued picture

The picture of the contribution made by transition experiences is not clear-cut or consistent. None of the transition experiences have an association with all the performance measures; some are apparent when we use prior scores at one age, but not another. Half the performance measures have association with only one of the transition experiences. The nature of transition to secondary school is experienced quite differently by individual students, rather than being either a common ordeal or a common relief. This complexity is also evident when we look at the aspects within a variable that were significantly different. We discuss some of these below, using the results of the models reported in the previous chapter.

The time taken to settle into secondary school is only related to the cognitive composite score at 16 once all the other variables have been taken into account; with those who settled in immediately having a higher score than those who settled in between when they started and a term—but not higher than those who took more than a term. This does suggest that the time taken to settle does not affect all students the same way, and that other indicators of student engagement may be more meaningful to identify those who are struggling with school, or who are finding things outside school more absorbing.

The transition experience that seems to have the most consistent association is the change of school type: it accounts for up to 3 percent of the variance in the number of level 1 NCEA credits, the cognitive composite—largely driven by numeracy it seems, since there are no associations with literacy, and with the attitudinal competency, thinking and learning.

Where there were differences in age-16 performance associated with change in school type, the main significant differences were between those who had moved from an intermediate to a secondary school, and those who had remained at a composite or a year 7–15 secondary school. Those staying in the same type of school (either composite or secondary) had significantly higher scores than those who attended an intermediate school. There typically was no significant difference between those who moved from a full primary to a secondary school, and those who moved from an intermediate to a secondary school.

The number of schools attended up to age 14—not directly associated with the transition to secondary school, or only inasmuch as that might mean another change of school—was related, over and above prior performance and social characteristics to age-16 performance and behaviour, with the number of level 1 NCEA credits, and experiencing social difficulties. Levels of numeracy and literacy, or thinking and learning approaches, were not significantly affected. Students who had attended up to four schools had higher scores than those who had attended 5 or more; those who had attended three or four schools did almost as well as those who had attended one or two. The difference in number of NCEA credits between those who had attended one or two schools and those who had attended four might have been significant with a larger sample (p = 0.065).

A change of school decile was associated with literacy scores at age 16. On the whole, those who attended low-decile schools at some point (either at primary and/or secondary level), including those who moved up from a low-decile primary school to a mid- or high-decile secondary school, had lower literacy scores than those who only attended mid- or high-decile schools.

Students whose secondary school was not their first choice of school had lower scores than those who were at their first choice of school, in relation to the number of level 1 NCEA credits, and cognitive composite scores (which are probably driven by numeracy scores, since there is no association with literacy). Students who were able to attend their first choice of school were less likely to show risky behaviour than those who had gone to a school that was not their first choice. This makes some sense: at age 14 we found that these students were already more likely to have engaged in risky behaviour, to have had two or more adverse experiences over the past year, to have been unhappy at school since age 8, have less positive interactions with family and friends, and to have lower average competency scores since age 12. This and the fact that we do not see more associations with performance levels at age 16 suggests that the transition variable—changing to a second-choice school—was not causal in the risky behaviour; and may have arisen from negativity about schooling and, perhaps, not having the family interest and support to gain a preferred school. Those who were not able to attend their first choice of school were more likely to be attending a low-decile school at age 16.

Discussion

Overall, the analysis we were able to do with this sample and the data we had collected at earlier ages would suggest that the transition to secondary school in New Zealand is currently not a major issue for many students, and that there is no single structural aspect to the change that stands out as something that could be tackled to improve student engagement or performance in secondary schools. Some have suggested, for example, eliminating intermediate schools: our analysis shows no clear support for or against this. We want to reiterate the importance of our finding that changes in performance over the transition, and since the transition, are no greater than changes in student performance over any two-year period in their earlier schooling; it is just that because there is a change in level, we pay this period more attention. And making sure that students feel welcome in the secondary level of schooling, supported, engaged in learning, and given opportunities for extracurricular stretch and growth is as important as it is in any stage of education. Our study, as with other longitudinal studies that include secondary as well as primary schooling, does find that on average, students’ feelings about school do show some decline in secondary school, which may indicate the need to adopt different approaches and use different structures at this stage than the current norm (Bolstad & Gilbert 2008), particularly given the greater pull of other activities at this stage of life.

Yet the weight of prior performance in age-16 engagement and performance also shows that making the most of this transition may also rest on already existing confidence in school work and life, and a belief that school matters, more than other activities in which young adults can find their identity.